1. Skills development: for whom and for what?
Professional Development Conference for Practitioners:
Supporting Learning Needs of Adults
Literacy Nova-Scotia
Donald, Lurette
Andragogy Consultant
November 2017

2. Small group discussion…
1- What is your perception of the conference so far (in terms of content)? What have you learned? Any highlight? 2- Do you have a new perception of the needs of the adult learners you work with? Do you envision some change in your practices? Present your working group to the larger group… Present a summary of your discussions…

3. Consultant’s perspective: A BIT OF HISTORY AND CONTEXT
Le CAP : Centre d’apprentissage et de perfectionnement
Early 2000s: Creation of very-high-speed integrated programs for some employment sectors (manufacturing, food service, consumer service, health…)
In a single educational intervention:
Integration and strategic development of many types of skills (essential, generic, technical and language skills) based on the needs of the employment sector.
Integration of educational resources through strategic partnerships to ensure the development of various types of skills.
Certification / qualification aquired based on skills development

4. Late 2000s: Development of a generic Canada-wide model by RESDAC in collaboration with le CAP.
In 2013, this results in a two-year action research project; funded by OLES; RESDAC will try to implement the integrated model and its andragogical approach in 8 communities (4 Anglophone and 4 Francophone) across 4 Canadian provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

5. An andragogical approach of literacy development

6. According to the international surveys
According to the IALS in 1994, the IALSS in 2003, and PIAAC in 2012, basic skills/competencies are like muscles: the more they are used, regardless of the context, the better they are maintained and the more quickly they improve.

7. What is a skill?

8. Definitions of key concepts
Competency/skills (in general) :
A person’s ability to mobilize its own resources (internal and external) to perform a task (Le Boterf, 2010).
Competency/skills (adult education field) :
A body of knowledge, know-how and attitudes that helps a person complete, as appropriate, a task or a group of tasks (Legendre, 2005).
According to its nature, we can suppose that the efficient development of competency/skills rests upon a strategic to-and-fro between theoretical learning and practical action.

9. Internal Resources Henri Boudreault’s diagram : Visual representation of interaction between the categories of “savoirs” when using a competency/skill.

10. External Resources… Accessible Human Resources: Learners
Work colleagues
Outside human resources
Others…
Accessible material resources:
Technology (digital and others)
Infrastructures, equipment and supplies

12. Different categories of skills to support development of tasks
Essential skills
Generic skills (soft skills)
Second-language skills
Specialized or technical skills
In the context of doing a task, these diverse skills must fit together seamlessly: sometimes one completes the other and sometimes one supports the other, either in the learning process or in action (carrying out a task).

13. Les concepts en duo: Alphabétisme et compétences Littératie et compétences

15. According to the international surveys
According to the IALS in 1994, the IALSS in 2003, and PIAAC in 2012, basic skills/competencies are like muscles: the more they are used, regardless of the context, the better they are maintained and the more quickly they improve.

17. Small group discussion…
How should we develop skills for adults in Nova-Scotia with literacy issues? How should we design programs and learning activities?